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Pros & Cons - Steam vs GOG which will you pick and why?

wanderon

Posted 26 March 2015 - 04:42 AM

wanderon

Nomadic Wayfarer of the Obsidian Order

Members

1274 posts

Location:Upstate NY

In the US most debit cards can be used as either debit or credit - the difference being only the manner in which the outlet processes the sale - the outcome is still the same the money is deducted from your account immediately on processing - other differences between how a debit vs credit transaction plays out may vary from card to card.

YunikoYokai5

Posted 26 March 2015 - 02:23 PM

YunikoYokai5

(2) Evoker

Members

65 posts

Location:United Kingdom

I chose Steam, mostly since the rest of my library is there. I also have my physical copy coming as well, which I assume is DRM free so I may have both in the end ^.^ Maybe XD I'm not sure if the disc needs a code or anything.

samlii

Posted 26 March 2015 - 09:21 PM

samlii

(0) Nub

Initiates

1 posts

I don't understand why they don't have a DRM Free download in addition to the key. I like the value adds from Steam (achievements and cards), but I love being able to save a DRM Free installer to my backups just in case.

Valsuelm

Posted 27 March 2015 - 03:30 PM

Valsuelm

(5) Thaumaturgist

Members

421 posts

Location:New York, USA

A tip to all those who suggest you can play in 'offline' mode if you wish on Steam. Note that this does not apply to PoE specifically but to Steam in general, in particular games that are Steam only (which PoE is not, but if Paradox had their way I'm sure it would be).

Awhile back I was in a closed beta for a certain company's AAA title (I shouldn't say which as it would break an NDA). It came to light in the closed QA forums that some aspects of the game's AI did not work in offline mode. After some insistent prodding by some of us in the beta one of the devs finally admitted that the AI code was actually somehow tied into the Steam code associated with the game, and that the AI would not work properly if the game was in offline mode or Steam had been uninstalled (something the developer assured the players of it's game that did not like the company's transition to Steam could do (this company had previously taken a public stance against DRM, and insists that Steam isn't DRM)).

That's probably about all of the detail I can go into without breaking an NDA, but the short of it is that for Steam only games (again, which PoE is not), it's possible that the offline mode very well may disable or break certain aspects of a game (and not just multiplayer).

demeisen

Posted 29 March 2015 - 06:42 PM

demeisen

(4) Theurgist

Members

365 posts

GOG for me.

There are certain conviences to Steam, no doubt about it. I get why people like it. Personally though, I care a lot about the long term PC gaming picture. I believe it's best for PC gaming that DRM-free models like GOG's succeed financially, and game companies see financial incentives to create and sell games that way.

As a computer gamer since the days of paper teletypes in the 70's, I've seen former powerhouse game companies "that would always be here" disappear, activation servers go offline when no longer profitable, forced upates that revoke content, etc. I don't want to see a future where everyone is beholden to a few huge companies like that.

Props to Obsidian for allowing DRM free sales on GOG. No matter how good Steam might be, GOG gets my gaming dollars, because that's the model I want to see win out, at least for single player games.